Any news From??

Hi Tammy, Just wondering what Faith Intl is saying about those questions you asked. Are there referrals? If so - how long did they take? Any people who traveled or adopted from Panama? How many people with Paperwork at the DNA? What are they saying about referral times for their people? Thanks, Julie

This is what I was told Are there referrals? If so - how long did they take? They are taking longer then orginally hoped - Depends on Age, race etc. I want a child under 2 AYAP any sex so - it is going to take time - at least 6 months from now - could be longer. Then court dates etc - Hopefully - I'll have a child in the fall. Any people who traveled or adopted from Panama? 2 adoptions complete - one in 2003 - Sara which we have heard from, and the couple last month. How many people with Paperwork at the DNA? I believe there are approx. 10 families ahead of me with Faith - a few after me so 10-12 but I haven't asked in the last few weeks. There a couple referrals - but they aren't as clean as the first ones. There is still confussion at the DNA on "offical referrals". Remember this is what Rebecca has told us many times. What they have told me is the same information that the posted on the web site. It is not a smooth quick process because it is new and everyone is learning but it is working (sort of) - if I was counting on quick & smooth - I would have gone to China. Tammy

Hi! We are with World Partners. I don't know the exact numbers, but I know there are two or three families that have had referrals since before Christmas. There are more families with dossiers down there that are waiting for referrals, I think about eight or so (us included). The original estimate was up to four months to wait for a referral, but they have now updated that information and said that five to six months is more realistic. That could mean two more months for us to get a referral, then three to four more before we travel. Ahhh! I'm trying really hard to be patient, and I did really well until the last couple of weeks, but now it's getting really hard. I've really enjoyed reading the posts from Panama this week, it's great to know someone has almost made it through the process. Joan

I spoke with Faith this week. They have 2 children referred and waiting for the guardianship hearings. Three children are in the process of Parental termination. When that is complete they will be referred also. It sounds like it is coming along with everyone. Estimate for referral is about 6 months due to the fact that they do not refer until the parental rights termination hearing is completed. As for the Red Cross orphanage they frowned upon taking the child out of the orphanage and bringing the child back. When we ran into the snafu with the US Embassy we had to come back to the US not knowing when they would complete the process and we had 3 other children here in the US. The difference from Lauri and ourselves was that we were legal guardians at that point. All court documents were signed and completed, therefore the attorney took her in and we hired a nanny (Panamanians call them nurses) to look after her while we traveled back to the US. Fortunately we were able to go back just 3 weeks later to bring her home. My point to this is that not all orphanages will be so willing to take the children back, so I wanted everyone to be aware of that. Take care everyone!

Sara, What is the guardianship hearing? And when the parental rights termination hearing is completed does that mean the judge has signed the termination paperwork (what Lauri is waiting for?) Thanks, Julie

I think what has been posted here before is VERY true, find out if the childs parental rights have been terminated. If they have than you are waiting for a true custody hearing and ready to adopt, if not than you are waiting for the termination than the custody hearing and the process will take longer. Now how much longer seems to vary. I could be wrong but this is the jist I am getting. Now our agency appears to not want to comment to us on the question of parental rights. I asked it the day the referral was given and still have yet to get an answer, what are you going to do? Wait, I guess, at least that is what we are doing, and keep asking:) I wonder if the process does take longer for infants. I keep praying we will travel April 12th as they say we "may" and I am praying even harder now that it will be a done deal, one trip kind of thing, I am praying VERY hard for that. We will see how it unfolds. We will keep praying and keep our faith, soon he will be home:) Thoughts and prayers, Tanya

There are two separate hearings that the child must go through. TPR, which is termination of parental rights (they do the exact same thing here in the states), which deems the child abandon and legal for adoption. This is where then the Panamanian couples are likely to have first choice after they are legally abandon. At this time is when the referral may occur. There are some couples though in this process that have been referred a child before abandonment and then had a "disrupted" adoption due to the fact that a Panamanian couple requests that child or a family member steps forward to adopt the child. After the abandonment hearing the court date is set with a hearing in front of a judge, which is where your attorney will present your homestudy and plead the case that you are excellent parents and deserve the child. You do not have to attend either hearing. As is with Guatemala you can travel any time after the abandonment hearing. This does not mean that you will be bringing the baby/child home. When an agency states that you can travel, adoptive parents need to start asking questions. Where is the child at in the process? Everyone is so new at this that it is difficult to know which questions to ask. From the time the guardianship hearing is completed and you win guardianship per the judge. The time frame from there is about 3 weeks from when you would be able to travel AND bring the child home. At this point you would be doing the checklist for the American Embassy, such as passport, doctors appointments, pictures, birth certificate, etc. It takes a couple of weeks to get all those appointments completed and the visa granted. Truly if you look at each of the adoptions and how they have gone, they are not much different. Even though the agencies are stating it differently they are panning out to have the same process, some agencies just state it differently than others. I hope this helps!

Sara, Thank you for more info. I do have a couple questions. How long is it from the TPR to the custody hearing? Is it three weeks from the custody hearing that you can travel to pick up your child? Do you know how it works that some families are getting custody of their child when they arrive in country before the TPR is done? Does Panama have a set time that they allow the child to be adopted by other Panamanians? This seems to be a HUGE concern that after TPR is when that can happen. Under the Hague I believe they have two months, but I am not positive about that. Sorry to flood you with questions, I was just wondering if you knew how that worked or how it worked in your case. Thanks again, Tanya

A few WPA families received referrals in October and there have been no referrals since. Our dossier was approved in November. We are requesting a toddler girl. I am not aware of any WPA families having traveled to date and Iam also not aware of any WPA families having received travel dates--though I may be mistaken here. I know some families are waiting. I felt a bit disheartened by Laurie's story. It would be great to see a few success stories.

Our TPR was in March and our guardianship hearing was the first part of May we were then asked to travel at the end of May. When the TPR hearing was first completed they set our guardianship hearing for September. Our attorney spent time at the court requesting an earlier date which was granted and moved to May. The DNA has the ability to allow the children to go out of an orphanage should she so desire. This obviously does not mean the couple has "custody" or "guardianship" of the child. As for us the Red Cross Director requested the court document stating us as guardians before she would allow Ysa to leave with us. Panamanians do have first rights to the children as stated under the Hague treaty. I believe it is 6 weeks or 2 months. Therefore the time from TPR to guardianship hearing. It is a concern, but also guarding the Panamanians rights also. If our agencies do the right thing, we will all be protected in this process, which I truly feel most are trying their best at doing so. Once again, I hope this helps. :)